Chapter 147
[Title: Is This Good, By Any Chance?]
(GIF of a rift appearing in a bathroom)
lol
[Upvotes 5] [Downvotes 102]
- (Frog emote raising its middle finger)
- Bragging tax, you son of a bitch
- Sigh...
At first, rifts had definitely been beneficial.
For medieval cities where trash disposal was difficult, rifts were bottomless garbage cans.
Houses with rifts even showed the bizarre phenomenon of having their property values rise.
No, they had been.
[Title: Ah lol]
(GIF of the fifth rift appearing in a bathroom)
(GIF of the entire bathroom half torn away)
Are we holding a gallery meetup in my bathroom, fuck?
[Upvotes 107] [Downvotes 0]
- lol, fucking hell
- Wow, I've seen two at most in my life, but five is fucking lol
- If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I use the bathroom?
ㄴ Posted by) Fuck off, you f1cking bastard.
ㄴ lol, you're being fucking polite
ㄴ You're the biggest bastard here lol
“Not anymore...”
Rifts had become abnormally numerous.
Since they sucked in everything they touched, if one formed in a house's framework, it could even bring the house down.
On top of that, the frequent waves caused anxiety and headaches.
Rifts were no longer lucky charms.
“Then we need to get rid of those...”
The World Tree had often gotten rid of them before.
So before borrowing the Shop's power, I tried contacting the World Tree separately first...
137.7.32: (World Tree emote: Reading the room...)
“Huh.”
The response was lukewarm.
Could the World Tree no longer erase rifts as easily as before?
Come to think of it, I hadn't seen the World Tree erase any since it moved to the dark elf city of Rumelin.
Head Mod*: Don't tell me you can't erase rifts?
137.7.32: (World Tree emote: Having attained enlightenment)
137.7.32: (World Tree emote: We're screwed...)
137.7.32: (World Tree selfie GIF)
Then the World Tree sent over a GIF along with some crying emotes.
The GIF showed a green-haired girl.
She had twin tails and the prickly face of a rebellious adolescent who looked like she wouldn't listen for shit.
“She looks different from before.”
Of course, the protagonist of the GIF was the World Tree.
She just looked a little younger than before...
It was the face of a prickly elementary schooler who looked like she'd break every toy if she came over during Chuseok.
Apparently, she had grown younger because she had exhausted herself using her power during the move.
137.7.32: (W-Want me to help...? World Tree emote)
Even so, the World Tree offered to help in its own way, but I shook my head while looking at the emote.
“I can't squeeze the last drop out of her.”
The World Tree had already gone through no small amount of hell settling in Rumelin,
and I couldn't exactly step in and drain its strength again myself.
Head Mod*: Take a break~
137.7.32: (World Tree emote: Awaaaah!)
“I guess getting help from the World Tree will be difficult.”
But there were still plenty of methods.
In preparation for times like this, my room was already overflowing with all sorts of items I'd bought from the Shop.
[Notice: Urgently Hiring a Part-Timer]
Posted by: Head Mod*
Looking for part-timers willing to suffer like hell for minimum wage
Family-like part-timers wanted ^^
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 0]
- Me, me, me, me!
- lol, now you're just phoning it in
- You son of a bitch, tell us what we're doing lol
ㄴ So you don't want to?
ㄴ Already applied.
All I needed to do was recruit some part-timers who would serve as my hands and feet.
*
Rift-Breaking Movement.
This was much like the Machine-Breaking Movement.
“Rifts were better when they were just moderately stupid.”
Computers that were useful to human life were more than welcome.
But just as no one wanted SkyNet instead of merely having their jobs taken away,
rifts had been nice when they were unlimited-capacity toilets, but now that they threatened people's lives, they needed to be curbed.
So I chose one rift for testing.
[Title: Head Mod, Is This the Place?]
(GIF of a rift on the plains north of Kellierton)
You told me to stand here, so here I am ㅇㅇ
[Upvotes 1203] [Downvotes 0]
- Head Mod*) ㅇㅇ Wait here for a moment.
- Wow, what's with the upvote ratio on a post with no content?
- Get selected as a part-timer and you'll get paid and a featured post!
- Fuck, this is the part-timer recruitment? I'm so jealous.
- So what is this post for?
The northern plains of Kellierton.
I gathered a few part-timers at one random location among the countless rifts.
This was where Penny had emerged, as well as the place where chemical weapons had been used.
And since it was flat, it was a good place to try out various things.
In other words, it was the perfect test site.
“From now on, your name is Chunsik.”
With the rift I'd named Chunsik in front of me, I sent over the items I'd bought beforehand one by one.
[Drill – Demolition Hammer] - 251p
[High-Explosive Grenade] - 30p
[12-Gauge Shotgun] - 139p
- Posted by) What is all this?
ㄴ Head Mod*) Pick one you want and try using it on the rift, ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Wow
ㄴ Let me do it too, please
“Well, it'll blow eventually, won't it?”
Rifts weren't invincible.
But chemical weapons were effectively unusable.
“Since they can't be controlled, we'll have to use another method.”
So I sent over everything I could think of.
I had more than enough points and more than enough items.
- Why is this a part-time job?
- What? Let me do it too.
ㄴ Even if you wildly underestimate the competition, it's 1,000,000:1. Give up lol
And so, with the entire gallery watching, the Rift-Breaking Movement began.
-KABOOM!
The part-timers began diligently trying out all sorts of items as I instructed.
They started with drills, then moved on to shotguns, flamethrowers, and even detonating entire boxes of grenades.
- Did we get it?
ㄴ You son of a bitch
ㄴ Why the fuck would you say that?
“What, it still won't blow up after all this?”
But even detonating entire boxes of grenades only left behind a deep crater.
The rift was still perfectly fine, without so much as a scratch.
All that happened was that it briefly turned black in the thick smoke before returning to normal.
- It won't break even with Market weapons?
- No, fuck, what the hell? Why is it fine?
- (Elf pottery emote clutching its head)
The gallery users who had hoped the long-standing nuisance would finally blow up sank into depression.
- Posted by) Shall I blow it up some more?
ㄴ Head Mod*) ㄴㄴ It's fine.
“If we keep going, we'll only make the gallery depressed.”
If the rift had even developed a hairline crack, I might have told them to continue, thinking it would eventually burst.
But without a single wound, continuing seemed reckless.
“So physical force can't destroy it.”
Of course, there were still ways.
[Shop/Nuke]
There was one weapon whose result was obvious without even seeing it.
Head Mod*: lol
DragonDragonWillDie: Aaaagh!
“A nuke is too much.”
Rifts were everywhere—in forests, in the ground, inside cities, and so on.
Since they weren't concentrated in any particular area, using nukes seemed unsuitable.
“Looks like ordinary Shop items won't do it.”
Of course, there were still ways.
If physical force couldn't solve the problem,
[Shop/Special Shop]
*Special Shop
Purchase not recommended.
I could use something other than physical force.
“The Special Shop... I've only ever looked at it.”
The Special Shop had appeared after I viewed the nuke.
Unlike the ordinary Shop, it was filled only with things that weren't normally handled.
“It says purchase not recommended.”
I guessed that the system had gathered only products it recommended against in this place.
These products couldn't be purchased with points; they required gallery levels instead.
The reason was obvious at a glance.
[Special Shop/Plagues]
[Smallpox] - Gallery Level 6+
[Plague Bacteria] - Gallery Level 8+
[Cholera] - Gallery Level 7+
Plagues that had brought infamy to human society.
They were said to have been completely eradicated after the triumphs of modern humanity.
These products had been collected from epidemic-storage laboratories in various countries,
with the strains stored and sold in laboratory cabinets.
“Hmm...”
Without needing to think very far, their names alone made it clear they would cause disaster if used.
“Wait, smallpox is here too.”
Of course, there were even names that had been declared completely eradicated in the modern era.
As far as I knew, the Shop sold modern items.
By modern standards, objects that were mere delusions couldn't be found no matter how hard one looked.
“But if they're being sold here...”
That meant they still existed in the modern era.
Several warnings beside the Purchase button especially caught my eye.
*There is a possibility of indiscriminate infection.
*Purchase is not recommended unless you have exceptional management preparations or are in an extreme situation.
They were phrases warning me against purchasing them again and again.
I only took note of the names before exiting the Special Shop.
“Even if I use that, it'll probably be able to deal with the rifts.”
When I had used chemical weapons, I remembered the rift shrinking when they touched it.
From that, I could tell that rifts could catch diseases too.
Releasing one would be highly effective, but the problem was its contagiousness.
‘The outside seemed to be connected as one.’
When I had gone outside to escape the assassin, the outside world had been different from what I had imagined.
I had expected the inside of a cave-like dungeon, but what I saw was one enormous world.
If rifts were generated there and connected to this place,
“If we release a plague, it'll cross over here in reverse, too.”
This wasn't a problem that could be solved by blocking this rift's entrance.
Infectious magical beasts might cross over through another rift.
There was a reason the system discouraged purchasing them.
[Title: So Does This Mean We Can't Get Rid of Rifts?]
(GIF of exhausted part-timers)
(GIF of an intact rift)
Seems like they've been at it for half a day already, but there's not much progress
[Upvotes 3398] [Downvotes 1023]
- Don't say ominous things like that.
- But I'm starting to worry too ㅇㅇ
- If even Head Mod can't solve it, I should just start looking for a nice sunny place.
ㄴ (Thief emote: Drooling like crazy)
ㄴ You son of a bitch
The gallery, which had been watching in anticipation, began to grow uneasy too.
While looking for a solution other than chemical weapons or plagues, I realized something.
“I was thinking too deeply about this.”
I had been fixated on the idea that I needed something powerful enough to rival those two.
But I didn't need to go that far.
[Cement 25 kg] - 9p
“The New World knows the answer...”
Cement, a cheap and easy solution and a regular guest in gangster movies.
“The rift reacted to chemical weapons, right?”
Rifts breathe too.
If that hard surface acted like human skin rather than armor, the solution was simple.
It was time to plaster the rift.
*
-KABOOM!
The ground shook with a huge explosion.
“Did we get it?”
Dirt flew in every direction and black smoke rose, but the rift was perfectly intact.
“Ahh...”
It had already been half a day since they began using weapons as Head Mod instructed.
In the end, a few of the part-timers let out sighs.
“Can this thing actually be destroyed?”
“How can it not even have a scratch?”
Their morale was broken because it had remained intact even against explosions that no magical beast could survive.
- Head Mod*) Good work. That's enough; go back and rest now.
“...Tch.”
With Head Mod's chat, the work came to an end.
They had been provided with an unimaginable amount of money and meals, but they couldn't feel at ease.
But there was nothing more they could do.
Just as they packed up their belongings to slowly return to the city,
-Clomp, clomp
“Huh?”
A man who was at least a head taller even at a glance began walking toward them.
At his sudden appearance, the part-timers looked up in confusion for a moment.
“...The Gallery Doctor?”
The familiar crow mask and enormous physique.
The part-timers stopped packing and blinked blankly.
Why was the Gallery Doctor here?
Just as they were all wondering the same thing, the Gallery Doctor thumped down the container he had brought.
Then he abruptly poured in some water and began stirring vigorously.
“...Wh-what are you trying to do?”
A container filled with ash-colored powder.
Even when one part-timer asked, unable to contain his curiosity, the Gallery Doctor silently stirred.
- What's that now?
- It's getting thicker and thicker?
- What kind of container is the size of my head lol;
Just then, everyone's curiosity had gathered because the post had not yet been taken down.
“All gallery assholes, be quiet and watch.”
With that strange way of speaking, the Gallery Doctor abruptly began spreading the mud in the container over the rift.
“What is this...”
Just as a part-timer muttered softly at the incomprehensible action,
-Krrrck!
“...!”
The part-timer's eyes began to widen at the change in the rift they had assumed would remain unchanged.